OBJECTIVETo assess the differences in the health promotion demand of practitioners between urban and rural private enterprises by a comparative analysis, and to probe into the more scientific and targeted health promotion measures.

METHODSStratified cluster random sampling and self-designed questionnaire were adopted to survey 852 practitioners in urban and rural private enterprises of a Chinese city.

RESULTSThere were significant differences in practitioners between the two sorts of enterprises in terms of age, length of service, educational level, and forms of employment (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The basic knowledge and skills of practitioners in rural private enterprises were worse than those in urban private enterprises(P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Practitioners in rural private enterprises were significantly less inclined to gain basic health promotion knowledge through enterprise training and network(P < 0.01). The demand of practitioners for health examination and hazard notification was significantly lower in rural private enterprises than in urban private enterprises (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONFocused and targeted health promotion should be carried out based on different demand characteristics of practitioners in rural and urban private enterprises.